


now i'm finally where i belong

by blackorchids



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Delena, Domestic, F/M, Fluff, i actually have a prequel to this half-done but it's even more all-over-the-place than this, i can't remember what stefan/katherine is called, this is literally almost 4k worth of useless domestic fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-03
Updated: 2013-07-03
Packaged: 2017-12-17 14:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/868500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackorchids/pseuds/blackorchids
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Jeremy's birthday. </p><p>*this is a fluffy mess of feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	now i'm finally where i belong

**Author's Note:**

> not quite sure what to say about this.
> 
> title from switchfoot's this is home

"Come on, come on," Alaric is saying as more and more of them pour through the door. Caroline arrives with both Matt and Tyler and no one can tell which is her date and which is her friend. _Maybe both are_ , Ric thinks, watching as both boys glance at one another and sit far away from each other in Elena's tiny living room, _or maybe neither_.

Caroline watches her two boys with a huff before going over to the kitchen to join Bonnie and Elena, the latter of the two who is frosting an enormous sheet-cake, the origins of which she refuses to share.

Ric closes the front door and leans back against it, swiveling his eyes from his choppy view of the kitchen back to the living room. Stefan and Katherine are also there, sitting near each other and playing one of Jeremy's video games, and Ric can't help but marvel at Elena's handiwork. Katherine is still blunt and mischievous, but without the cruel edge that her young doppelgänger has worked to cut away, she isn't really so bad. Caroline stomps into the living room and up to Tyler, saying something with a bit of a hissy look on her face, gesturing wildly before pointing at Matt, who is watching them from the other side of the room. Tyler scowls and says something back, but Caroline juts her hip out to one side and burns her gaze into the hybrid, glaring and replying shortly. A minute passes and Ric watches as Tyler's whole form sort of slumps over in defeat, and the dark-haired boy makes his way over to the blonde boy and mumbles something that has Caroline rolling her eyes, but Matt is smirking, just a little.

Ric knows they've been on the outs since _forever_ , and he can tell that Caroline is secretly pleased at the tentative friendship they're trying to rebuild, even as she leaves the room to go back to the girls. Ric follows along, intent on grabbing something to drink if he's going to be stuck with door-duty for much longer.

"Elena," Bonnie is saying, "why won't you just tell us where you got the cake from?"

Ric smirks, because he's got a pretty good idea, but he's not quite sure and it's been fun watching everyone try and get the answer out of the girl. Katherine flashes to the kitchen and startles Bonnie and Caroline, and they all watch as she throws some curly hair back behind her shoulders and studies Elena, apron tied around her slim waist, straight hair up in a droopy bun, eyes sparkling with her little secret. The cake is truly enormous, and Elena has only just finished frosting it, now gearing up to enscribe it before the guest of honor comes.

"I think I know," Katherine says finally, smirking when Elena rolls her eye. Katherine nods once, twice, not noticing the way Caroline is looking back and forth between the two impatiently. "I think I know."

Elena ignores all of them, smiling to herself as she leans over starts painstakingly forming the letters, even as Bonnie and Caroline start to interrogate Katherine instead. Ric grins and swirls his drink for a minute before making his way back to his post, glancing out the little window of the new front door they'd bought when they signed the place over to Jeremy, who had no intentions of dying again for a very long time.

Ric swishes the last sip of his bourbon in his mouth just as Elena makes her way over to him with a fresh glass, Katherine, Caroline, and Bonnie joining the boys in the living room, squishing themselves onto the old couch.

"I bought blue punch," Elena tells him, gesturing to the two punch bowls sitting, with five different bowls of chips, on a fold-out table in the corner of the living room. "I know it'll get spiked and I don't want everyone accidentally mixing the two up when they're drunk." Ric grins at her mildly disgusted expression. "I mean I know I'll have to get used to the idea soon enough, but as a human, I'm just not feeling the whole blood thing."

One punch bowl is filled to the brim with vibrant blue punch that Ric knows Katherine has already spiked heavily with vodka, but the other one is filled with a thicker, dark red substance, specifically for their less-human guests.

"I'm sure after the first sip, even the drunkest of teenagers won't manage to confuse the two." He assures her. He glances out the window again and spots a familiar car pulling up into the empty driveway. "They're here," he tells her and she goes to relay the message to everyone in the other room, even though the only one who wouldn't have heard him is Matt. The game is paused on the giant t.v. screen and everyone gets up to gather themselves tight within the foyer, Katherine and Stefan standing on the first step of the staircase to make more room.

Ric backs away to the door, ready to stand off to the side, but Elena pulls him right up between her and Bonnie, rolling her eyes at his surprised expression.

"Three," Katherine whispers as she flicks off the lights.

"Two," Stefan's voice says from the darkness.

"One," says Caroline from somewhere behind, laughter in her voice.

The door opens and a figure stumbles in, clearly having been pushed, as another hand flicks on the lights.

"SURPRISE!!" The whole group yells and Jeremy starts, blinking around at them and grinning widely. He turns back to the doorway, raising an eyebrow at Damon.

" _You_ were the distraction?" Jeremy says and Damon pulls his lips into a disgusted grimace that couldn't be more fake.

"The only one here who lies better than me is Kat, but that would've been weird." Damon says, shoving Jeremy forward once more. "Now show some manners, Little Gilbert, greet your guests."

Jeremy goes and hugs Elena first, mumbling in her ear as she laughs, pulling him tighter against her chest than strictly necessary. He's got her a couple inches off the ground and when he finally puts her back on the floor, he gives her a meaningful look before turning to Ric with a big, shit-eating grin that says he's going to subject him to a hug as well. Bonnie's next, of course, and he plants a kiss on her lips before moving on, her hand tucked away in his as he hugs everyone else. Elena is tugging Damon into the room, smiling at him shyly in a way that Ric takes to mean they still haven't gotten their shit together and, well, _gotten together_.

"Thank you for keeping him busy," Elena tells him quietly, her voice gushing, just a little and Ric scoffs at the smirk that tugs on Damon's face, not quite hiding the expression in his eyes.

"He's not the _worst_ company in the world, Elena," Damon says and Ric's eyebrows shoot up at the grin on Elena's lips that suggests this is yet another joke that only the two of them understand.

"Pathetic," Katherine mumbles as she tugs Stefan back into the living room where everyone has congregated once more, Jeremy perched in the center of the couch, Bonnie tucked into his side as he, Tyler, and Matt continue some conversation they were having whenever the last time they've seen each other. Elena bustles back into the kitchen after smiling fondly at everyone, gathered into the tiny living room and squished together like sardines. Ric turns his raised eyebrows to Damon, who scowls without heat, even as he steps up next to his friend and swipes his glass.

"Get your shit sorted," Ric tells Damon. "She'll wait forever, but she shouldn't have to."

Damon scowls some more, knocking back the rest of the bourbon and fixing it with that snobby expression he wears when it's not up to his standards. They stand there together for another minute and watch as Elena darts into the room, half jumping over the couch onto Jeremy's back in efforts to put the birthday boy crown on his head.

 _They're all so young_ , Ric thinks, watching the struggle ensue before Katherine leans over and restrains Jeremy without her vampire strength. Katherine is edging on six hundred years old, but she turned at sixteen and sometimes, especially now, she is just that age. Caroline and Stefan are forever seventeen. Tyler is stuck at eighteen. Matt is physically the oldest one in the room and he's only just turned twenty one years old, but they're all so damn _young_. It's been quiet this past year, the biggest event being Elena's successful efforts to coddle her great-however many times-grandmother into reforming. It's been quiet this year, and it was enough time for the perpetually tired expressions to fade from their young faces. They've all been through more than anyone could possibly imagine, but they survived it.

"How many of these have you had, old man?" Damon asks him. "You've got that irritating fond-nostalgic look on your face again."

"Well, since you had that one, that brings my count up to...one." Ric replies. He feels _old_ , watching Jeremy adjust the crown with a petulant expression that says Elena's won but he's not happy about. His sister is still crowded on his back, between him and the cushions, and she presses a messy kiss on his cheek grinning when he cries out a 'ga- _ross_ , Lena'. He pulls her head down so he can return it, licking her cheek like a dog that has his sister screeching, laughter filling the room.

"I feel old," Ric mumbles, half-to himself, and Damon snorts.

"Kat's five-hundred and eighty-two years old, Alaric," he says. "You're an _infant_."

"Physically, she's sixteen," Ric retorts uselessly. He knows Damon understands and is just being difficult. It's a weird feeling that he's sure no one else has quite managed to have, but he doesn't mind. Someone knocks on the door and Damon's eyebrows shoot up.

"You invited a date to this little shin-dig?" The vampire asks, but Ric doesn't know what he's talking about. Elena is next to them in a second and Ric blinks, wondering how she got there that fast.

"I invited Mer," she says, trying not to show how much pleasure she's taking in the blush on his cheeks, "I hope you don't mind," she adds, hastily pressing a kiss on his cheek that makes him feel like a _dad_ , going over and throwing the door open and pulling the doctor inside.

"Mmm," Damon says silkily when the pair meet them, "Sexy psychotic doctor lady, good choice, Elena."

"Hi Ric," Meredith says a little breathlessly, ignoring Damon completely.

"Hi Mer," Ric says after a moment of staring at her in normal-people garb, wishing he could stab Damon for laughing at his expense. Elena seems to notice this, and she tucks her tiny hand into Damon's, tugging him away and into the kitchen, berating him fondly.

Damon allows himself to be pulled away from his bumbling friend, more than a little distracted with the feeling of Elena's hand in his. They hold hands all the time now, even though they're not quite dating, but he doesn't think he'll ever get used to the feeling. It's almost as though she's the only one keeping him from floating away. It was like that long before they started holding hands, really. In the kitchen, he looks around, spotting the sandwiches and pizzas and plates of chicken laid out on a plastic birthday mat on the table. There is a perfect view of the living room from his stance behind the counter, and he almost lets himself be pulled under Ric's fondness. The man in question has managed to convince their hybrid friend out of a chair so he and his date can sit together and talk about old-people things, like the economy and the weather and whether or not the mayor is going to put vervain in the water supply again.

Damon turns his back to the large group of misfits and focuses his attention on Elena's who's looking at him with those wide eyes, a warm smile tugging at her lips even as she sips from her water bottle. She doesn't dare drink tap-water any longer, because she doesn't want vervain in her system, just in case. They watch each other for a long time and Damon feels his posture relax under her steady gaze. He walks up to the cake she's standing near and studies it as she asks what he and Jeremy did all afternoon.

"Oh the usual," he tells her, "Pasta and body shots off some girls at the grill, a strip club after lunch, and we topped it off with an invigorating, but successful, rogue vampire hunt." He revels in her laughter. "You spelled 'birthday' wrong," he says, turning to her with a single raised eyebrow and biting down his smirk when her eyes widen and she shoves him out of the way to see for herself.

"B-I-R--" she mumbles to herself, brushing some hair away from her face worriedly. "No I didn't!"

"Oh," he says, dodging her swatting hands and laughing, "my mistake."

"You great big jerk!" She's huffing, but he can see her amusement. "You're awful! Go play with Stefan."

"Are you dismissing me?" He asks, voice full of incredulity, even though she does it all the time.

"You guys need to eat!" She calls into the living room, stepping around him after she covers up the cake again.

"You know only a select few of us actually need to eat, right?" Katherine says as she leads half the group toward the table ladder with food.

"Shut up and eat your pizza, Kat," Elena replies snippily. "I already know that when you guys are full on blood you can eat like normal."

"Not feeling quite full," Katherine says, finger tapping against her chin in fake-thoughtfulness as people grab at food all around her. "Can I have a sip, Lenny?"

Damon can't help the growl that slips through his lips at that one and Katherine looks positively _gleeful_ at the noise.

" _Behave_ , Kat," Stefan tells her, but his voice is without heat. "Don't poke the sleeping bear."

There is a silence before everyone is laughing and Damon sniffs importantly, curling his lip up at the lot of them.

"Bear?" Bonnie asks, "I was going to say _bunny_."

"Watch it, Sabrina," Damon warns before his attention is taken from the giggling mass of people-- _children_ , the lot of them--to the girl in front of him, her tiny palms gripping his forearms as she looks up at him earnestly.

"Damon," is all she says, but she's pleading with him to take it, to not storm out and sulk, and he already knows he's going to listen to her because he hasn't quite figured out how to deny these little requests of hers yet. He wonders absently if he ever will.

Elena places a few drumsticks onto a bright green plate, grabbing a slice of pizza and an apple too, before slipping her free hand into his once more and pulling him into the living room with the rest of them.

"Sorry," he hears the murmur clearly, and Katherine really does look apologetic, because she knows it's a touchy subject and, really, it'll always be a touchy subject. He nods in acknowledgement, keeping most of his attention on the girl who is seated on the floor at the coffee table and is pulling his hand, as though she wants _him_ to sit on the floor too.

His eyebrows shoot up once more and she gives him his favorite stop-being-so-difficult look, pulling on his fingers some more. And he could resist, shake her hand away and force Donovan out of his seat, but they both know he won't.

He huffs out a very put-on sigh, as though his life is _so_ hard, and lowers himself next to her in one lithe movement that has her staring, just for a second. _So worth it_ , he thinks, enjoying the feeling of her side pressed into his like the idiot that he is.

She smiles at him and he is reminded that he is _so gone_ for this girl as he takes a bite of the second chicken leg without gusto.

*

The cake is brought out as the sun is finally setting. It's a huge, monstrosity of a thing, six inches tall, chocolate, with a whipped cream center layer. It takes both Elena and Bonnie to carry it to the cleared-off coffee table. Emblazoned, in red, on the vivid blue frosting are the words 'HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY, JEREMY' and just looking at them makes Elena get a little misty-eyed, no matter how many times she's seen them already. Her baby brother is eighteen years old.

She presses herself in the safety that is under Damon's arm as the group sings, horribly off-key. Caroline's a brilliant singer, but she's deliberately singing as shrill as she can, dramatic expressions on both her and Katherine's faces as they enter the chorus.

Damon's singing too, voice low in her ear, and she's sure she's the only human who can hear him, but she appreciates the effort anyway. She knows family gatherings still make him queasy, having spent so long alone in his life of destruction. She hopes he enjoys being here, with all of them, as much as she enjoys having him here. She hopes he knows that if he had left, like he'd promised to do so many times, it wouldn't quite be the same without him.

Someone hands Elena a plate of cake, sloppily cut and toppled upside-down, and everyone's digging into it.

"So good," Caroline mumbles, leveling a forkful of the stuff an adoring look.

"Since when do you cook, Lena?" Jeremy asks as he serves himself a second piece.

" _I_ don't," she tells her brother, leaning her head back and looking up at Damon's expression as she offers him some of her cake, fork waving in front of his mouth. He glances down at her, smile tugging at the corners of his lips for just a second, before accepting the piece, closing his mouth over her fork and mmm-ing for show.

"So if you don't bake," Bonnie says later, watching as Elena stands to clear up the empty plates and cups, "Who made the damn cake?"

Elena shoots a look to Damon on her way to the kitchen and he rolls his eyes, rising and gathering the rest of the trash. "I did," he tells the witch smugly, "thanks for all the compliments." Bonnie's mouth is hanging half-open when he leaves the room, easily balancing a towering stack of cups in one hand, the rest of the cake in the other. Elena turns to him, a blinding smile on her face.

"I think it's been a success," she tells him excitedly, taking the cups from his hand before he turns to box up the cake in something that will fit in the fridge. He's thrown by how _domestic_ this all feels, the kids bickering in the living room, the in-laws sharing bourbon in the corner.

“Was there ever any doubt that it wouldn’t be?” he asks her, biting down the urge to flee and kill some sorority girls on his way out of town. 

“Well,” she says, laughing a little, loading the last of the glasses into the dishwasher and pulling a stack of fresh ones from a cupboard, “With _our_ track record...”

Damon pulls his lips into an indignant look that doesn’t quite hide his uneasiness with the subject and she takes ahold of his hand, rubbing his knuckles soothingly for just a minute before she heads back into the living room, pausing to say something to Alaric. Damon follows out there, crowding her space as she organizes the cups into careful stacks around the punch bowls and it’s then that he notices that one is full of blood.

He can’t even wonder how that managed to escape his notice, because he’s too busy gaping at the sight of the blue punchbowl for the humans right next to the blood for the vampires. He and Ric had both been thinking about the domesticity of the whole day for hours, but _this_..this was overwhelming in its simplicity.

“Damon?” Elena asks, and she looks worried. “Damon--are you alright?”

“You’ve got blood right next to the punch,” he tells her, as though it’s some mistake that she isn’t aware of.

She nods at him, smiling a little worriedly, like she’s afraid he’s angry with her. “I wanted to accomodate all of us.”

Damon glances around the tiny little living room, where Stefan and Katherine are whispering to one another and Caroline is sitting comfortably between her human and her hybrid. Jeremy and Bonnie are huddled together and Alaric and Meredith have retired to the patio under the illusion of privacy. Damon counts everyone off--a psycho nurse, two vampire hunters--one by choice and one by blood--and four vampires, a hybrid, a human, and a doppelgänger. He glances at everyone, no one paying attention, though he’s sure everyone’s secretly listening, and he glances at the punch bowls once more, before settling his gaze on Elena, who still looks concerned that she’s managed to offend him in some way.

 _Get your shit sorted_ , he thinks, recalling Alaric’s words from earlier that day. And so he cups Elena’s face and presses his lips against hers and kisses her soundly. 

“It’s about time,” he hears Jeremy mutter and he makes a mental note to throw something at the boy later, before he’s too distracted by Elena, her fingers threading into his hair. He pulls her closer with one hand, the other still cupping her chin, and she licks into his mouth soundly and Damon can’t help but agree with Jeremy’s statement. _It’s about time._

**Author's Note:**

> i scarcely like this, but i've been working on it for too long and i want to start with something else so i'm putting it up. be gentle, please.
> 
>  
> 
> come talk to me or prompt me on tumblr [@rosalinesbenvolio](http://www.rosalinesbenvolio.tumblr.com)!!


End file.
